


golden

by orphan_account



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mutual Pining, New Year's Eve, New Year's Kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:06:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22067485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: He always felt watched, and his feelings were confirmed when he would catch them staring with knowing looks (as if they knew something Eren didn’t) and their whispers didn’t feel like whispers as they would gossip about him.He did put some of the blame on them on why he hadn’t confessed yet, to make himself feel better.
Relationships: Armin Arlert & Eren Yeager, Armin Arlert/Eren Yeager
Comments: 5
Kudos: 85





	golden

**Author's Note:**

> happy 2020 y'all!! i hope your decades started off great and you continue to thrive uwu
> 
> honestly i'm already thriving like putting out writing within the first twelve hours of the new decade honestly go me
> 
> this is more of a fun, not serious thing that i thought of on the fly and i've always wanted to write a new years fic and i hope y'all have as much fun reading this as i did writing it!!

“Are you gonna go for it tonight?”

Eren groaned, wanting to dunk his head in his bowl of cereal sitting on the table in front of him once he heard Mikasa ask the question, stood in the archway between the kitchen and living room of their shared apartment. 

“Can you give me some space once I wake up?” He shook his head, putting his head in one hand while he stirred the spoon in his cereal with his other. He felt himself growing hotter the longer he stayed quiet, but he didn’t want to give Mikasa a clear answer that would either give her leverage to tease him or to lecture him. “I’m gonna be too busy hosting and talking to everyone tonight, and also having to make sure that nobody gets too rowdy and something gets broken.”

“You say that as if you and Jean aren’t the main perpetrators of violence and vandalism anytime we have friends over,” Mikasa rolled her eyes as she pulled out the chair next to Eren and sat in it. 

“Maybe nothing like that would happen if you stopped inviting him to our parties.”

“I would if you didn’t get distracted by Armin and whatever he’s wearing or doing and you actually hosted so Jean wouldn’t have to take your place,” Eren felt like he was on fire, and he was honestly considering throwing the cereal on himself to help him cool down, but also give him a reason to leave this conversation he could already see going down the way he didn’t want it to. 

“Too much is happening tonight, Mikasa! I’ll tell him when I’m ready somewhere more private and not on a holiday.”

“You said that before our Friendsgiving dinner, and before we went to Armin’s birthday party, and before the Halloween party, and yet--”

“Alright!” Eren shot up from his seat, hearing enough of Mikasa’s lecture that could go on forever if he let it, but he wanted to get away and lock himself up in his room. Unfortunately, his actions didn’t match up with his intentions because as he stood up, his hand caught the bottom of his cereal bowl and flipped it over, making the cereal spill out onto the table and on the kitchen floor. Mikasa had cat-like reflexes so she was somehow able to dodge the splashes as she jumped across the room, but Eren wasn’t as nimble so he hissed slightly at the coldness of the milk sloshing onto his pajamas. “You’ve gotta be kidding me. Let’s hope that the new year doesn’t start as shitty as it’s ending.”

“I just don’t get it,” Mikasa continued on, ignoring the situation aside from coming back to the table to pick up the bowl and take it to the sink as she came back with paper towels. “You guys spend so much time together, how have you not told him or made a move on him yet?”

“Mikasa, please just leave the situation alone,” Eren begged. “How are you so sure he even feels the same?”

“Literally everyone can see that you two are crazy for each other,” she placed towels on the table to soak up the mess, then kneeled down to the floor to meet Eren to help him. “Plus, I hear that Jean, Connie, and Reiner may or may not have a bet that you may or may not make a move tonight.” 

Eren bowed his head and let out a long sigh. “I hate you all.” 

“I’m just telling you what I’ve heard,” she shrugged, picking up the soggy towels and throwing them into the trash. “I can mop and wipe down the table, go ahead and change so you have enough time to get ready and look nice for Armin and our guests.”

Eren let out a groan as he stood up and quickly rushed out of the kitchen and to the bathroom, starting to mentally prepare himself for the torture his friends were going to be putting him through the entire night. 

***

Of course Armin arrived a couple hours before the party to help set up and prepare for the rest of the guests, because he always did but also because he was just a nice person and a great friend. Jean did too, but Eren couldn’t bring himself to appreciate his presence nor help when he knew that Jean also had a huge, obvious crush on Mikasa and because he was just an instigative and nosey asshole who thought he could give input on Eren and Armin when he literally touched Mikasa’s hair unprompted the first time they met freshman year of college. It especially didn’t help when he knew that Jean was betting on Eren’s love life. 

And Mikasa wondered why Eren abandoned his hosting duties halfway through their parties when Jean was basically following her around like a lost puppy the entire time. 

Eren learned how to manage his embarrassing crush on Armin so that he could still talk to him and hang out with him normally after the first few months when Eren realized his feelings for Armin, and that normality and comfort between them is what was holding Eren back from actually saying anything to Armin in the possibility of ruining all of that if Armin didn’t feel the same. Despite this fact, Eren hated how uncomfortable he got when he talked to Armin when their friends were around. He always felt watched, and his feelings were confirmed when he would catch them staring with knowing looks (as if they knew something Eren didn’t) and their whispers didn’t feel like whispers as they would gossip about him. 

He did put some of the blame on them on why he hadn’t confessed yet, to make himself feel better. 

The four of them got everything set up quickly as always so they had some time to just hang out before everyone arrived, and he took that time to notice Armin’s freshly trimmed hair and the new blue button up that he had never seen him wearing before and how it brought out the blue in his eyes. He also tried not to get too embarrassed over the fact that Armin definitely caught him staring almost every time, and he tried not to let himself combust when he noticed that Armin seemed to get redder each time he caught him as if he was embarrassed too. Eren also tried not to let himself descend into madness when he thought he caught Armin staring at him too but would always be looking away or he would catch the quick motion of his head or his eyes turning away from him. He also had to keep himself from throwing anything in his reach straight at Jean and Mikasa whenever he would hear them whispering or snickering. 

Eren had never been so thankful for a party to start and for more of his friends to arrive since it distracted him from eventually embarrassing himself in front of Armin and also Mikasa since she was also concerned with hosting and talking to everyone. He found himself talking to his friends more often and longer than usual (except for Reiner and Connie, he was definitely making sure to make a point to ignore them after he saw them gathered up with Jean at the beginning of the party whispering and constantly looking back at Eren), but Armin always seemed to be there whenever Eren would be ending one conversation and he would keep him company until the next friend walked by for Eren to stop to talk to. 

He eventually separated himself from the party once he noticed that it was starting to near midnight to help Mikasa pour out all the champagne glasses to give out to everyone, but people always made their way to the kitchen to talk or help.

“Hey Jeager, should I find a mistletoe and hang it over yours and Armin’s heads so you can finally make a move on him?” Ymir perused as she walked into the kitchen, leaning on the counter across from Eren.

“Fuck off, Ymir,” Eren grumbled as he continued to pour out champagne, not bothering to look up and see the shit-eating grin he already knew was there. “What, are you in on the bet too?”

“There’s a bet? If I had known about it, I totally would’ve been!” She snickered, and Eren found himself ready to kick Ymir out and face Historia’s wrath for doing so rather than put up with her bullshit. She could obviously sense Eren’s annoyance growing, so of course she went on. “Everyone is suffocating under the tension between you two, I’m begging you to do  _ something _ \--”

“How about you give this to Historia for me, will you?” Eren shoved two champagne glasses into Ymir’s hands, waving her off as she turned around and walked out cackling. He was ready to chug down the entire bottle in his hands because all of his friends were total assholes apparently, and Mikasa seemed to be able to sense it because she quickly swiped the bottle out of his hands and placed two glasses in his hands.

“Go find Armin and give him this glass,” she said. “I’m done pouring glasses and you can go find Jean and tell him to help me with passing them out to everyone else.”

“Why don’t you guys give Armin some shit once in a while?” He sighed as he walked out into the living room, quickly spotting Armin in the back of the room talking to Jean. “Hey Jean, go help Mikasa in the kitchen.”

Jean scoffed at Eren and shook his head. “You’ve never been so forward with pushing your hosting duties onto me before, Eren.”

“Go away, before I throw both of these onto you,” Eren seethed, narrowing his eyes at Jean. 

“Okay, okay fine,” Jean laughed, “you have more important things to attend to anyway.” He then quickly left the two alone, not letting Eren get the chance to fulfill his promise. Eren shook his head and handed the glass to Armin. 

“Why are our friends such dicks?” Eren asked, stealing a small sip. 

“They’re nice to me,” Armin laughed, also stealing a small sip from his own drink. 

“Yeah, because you’re literally the nicest person, Armin.” Eren said. “It’s practically impossible to be mean to you.”

Armin barked out a laugh that made Eren go warm all over, and he had to catch his drink once Armin brushed his arm. Eren slightly shook his head. Stupid.

The countdown started and as the numbers got smaller, Eren swore he felt Armin stepping closer to him, pressing himself more to his side and Eren felt like he was getting more breathless as he yelled with everyone else. 

The clock on the TV struck zero and everyone yelled congratulatories to each other, but Eren and Armin seemed to turn to each other as they clinked their glasses together, and Eren saw Armin’s face change and he saw something different, like Armin was expecting something. Before his mind could catch up with his body, Eren felt his free hand curl around the nape of Armin’s neck and press their lips together, and he felt Armin’s hand gripping tightly onto his shoulder as he immediately kissed back. The kiss lasted a couple seconds, and when Eren pulled back he instantly started to giggle like a school girl but it was okay because Armin was laughing too. His face was on fire but it was okay because he didn’t think he had ever seen Armin as red before now and he couldn’t believe that he did that and that Armin liked it too. That Armin liked  _ him. _

Eren was brought back to reality when he felt Reiner and Jean’s arms slung over his shoulders and they were whooping and laughing right in his ears. 

“I never doubted you from the start!” Reiner laughed as he shook and squeezed Eren’s shoulder.

“The one time I bet on your flakiness, you let me down,” Jean chuckled, but Eren could see that even he was happy for him.

“Well, I guess I should be the one betting on your flakiness, considering,” Eren shook his head, and he managed to escape from both of the guys’ grips when Jean started sputtering out excuses and Reiner doubled over in laughter at Eren’s comment. But Armin’s laughing caught his attention and he felt so giddy and happy, and his knew he was smiling like a complete idiot, but so was Armin. 

He stepped over to Armin’s side and slung an arm around his shoulder, planting a kiss on the side of his head, catching Mikasa behind Jean and Reiner, smiling contently at them.

Eren knew that this definitely was a great start to a new year and he wouldn't have wanted it any other way. 

**Author's Note:**

> did i totally stay up until 7am to write this? yes i did. 
> 
> do i regret this decision? not one bit.
> 
> you can find me on tumblr
> 
> feedback is always appreciated!!


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